Visiting the Royal Pavilion in Brighton last year we took in an exhibition of Turner’s work in and around the seaside resort. in a vitrine was a small leather object resembling an old-fashioned wallet, which the label identified as Turner’s watercolor field palette–the precursor of Windsor-Newton bijou box. Combining ingenuity and simplicity, this humble fold-up paint caddy was for me a highlight of the show. Pigments ground in gum arabic with a small quantity of glycerin were formed into cakes and pressed into sheets of canvas sewn to a sheet of leather equipped with a tongue and strap closure. Water-activated cakes did not appear until the 1830, which puts the object in Turner’s possession closer to the end of his life. Didactic information supporting the display did not reveal what else Turner may have carried in his pockets; sketchbook, small porcelain or enameled metal mixing surface, water-flask and brush roll-up.